My 5 year old son had his allergy testing done recently and the results for corn was a class 3. He's always had issues with eczema, rough skin and prickly rashes of some sort. He has several other food and environmental allergies too so this is quite the maze to work through.

I know nothing about corn allergies! Any advice to a newbie to this? I know a class 3 isn't horribly bad but what should I be considering?

I am so sorry to hear about your son's corn allergy diagnosis. Corn allergy is a very difficult allergy to learn to live with. I was diagnosed as an infant and am still learning about corn each and every day.

Print a copy and keep it with you when you go shopping. Read all labels. You will be very surprised as to how much of our "processed" foods contain corn. For some reason, people with corn allergy do not need a corn "protein" to have a reaction. I will have my worst reactions to corn derived citric acid...which, by the way is in hundreds of foods. My reactions are skin related as well...so, I feel like I know what your little one is going through. Corn is very difficult to avoid, but I assure you that it can be done. It takes a lot of time and effort. Cooking from scratch using only safe ingredients is a must! If you need any substitution suggestions, please ask.

But how bad is a class 3? Do you think that his skin issues could be that? He does have allergies to wheat and dairy too so I don't know what to point it at. I am wondering HOW strict I need to be with this corn allergy.

I think that you should try to eliminate as much corn as possible for now and see how much his skin begins to improve. I spent most of my adult life with horrible skin because I was accidentally getting some corn (derivatives that I did not know were corn). It seemed that the more exposure I had and the older I got the worse my skin got. I am happy to say that my skin is pretty much clear now, but I have to be extremely careful.

My heart goes out to you and your son. It is difficult enough as an adult to walk through a grocery store or go to a party and see all of the wonderful foods and know that I can never have any of it. When I was your son's age I only had to avoid the obvious corn. That was long before they started using it in everything. It was so much easier then.

I don't know if this is the kind of testing you had done, but this site explains the break-down of the different classes of test results. I realize that there are many different types of testing available...perhaps you doctor should explain your results in more detail.

I don't know if this is the kind of testing you had done, but this site explains the break-down of the different classes of test results. I realize that there are many different types of testing available...perhaps you doctor should explain your results in more detail.

this is how I was understanding the tests but now so many people are telling me that a 1 or a 2 isn't anything to worry about so I have ignored them. OH, and it is the type he had, the RAST. He also had the ELISA but I am not as concerned about that one as it delayed. He was off the charts with banana for that one and 8 points away from being off the charts with egg on that one as well. Go figure

I am about to go to our Local Whole Foods store with my new research for corn in hand so we shall see what I can bring home! I think for cereal, it will be Amaranth and rice. I don't know what else to get him. I'm tempted to just simply put the whole family on The Caveman Diet LOL

As I understand them, RAST scores indicate the probability of a reaction . . interpreting the scores isn't cut and dried. i.e. someone with a higher score is more likely to react severely than someone in class one or class two, but that isn't necessarily the case.

The only way you can tell for sure is by eliminating the allergen from your child's diet and to see if that makes a difference. I'd also make a follow up appointment with your allergist to discuss the results.

By the way, I think class 3 is considered "high"; 2 is "moderate"; 1 is "low."

Good luck! I am allergic to corn also so I know how difficult avoiding corn can be!

As I understand them, RAST scores indicate the probability of a reaction . . interpreting the scores isn't cut and dried. i.e. someone with a higher score is more likely to react severely than someone in class one or class two, but that isn't necessarily the case.

The only way you can tell for sure is by eliminating the allergen from your child's diet and to see if that makes a difference. I'd also make a follow up appointment with your allergist to discuss the results.

By the way, I think class 3 is considered "high"; 2 is "moderate"; 1 is "low."

Good luck! I am allergic to corn also so I know how difficult avoiding corn can be!

This is the way I am understanding it, now The link above was good for helping me to understand it better so 3 was a "strong positive" while the others were a positive, they weren't as "positive" KWIM? Besides, there are several sites that say that the lower a positive, the more likely it's a false positive. Does this sound right to everybody else? Could those 1's and 2's be false positives instead?

Don't assume any of the possitives were false positives. I would say that it is more likely for more of that potential allergen over time to cause a reaction. The lower your number, potentially the less violent the reaction (at least at first).

If you don't avoid your allergens they will grow in severity over time. This happened to me. I didn't know I had food allergies until I was an adult. I thought every person got sick every time after they ate. It had happened to me since my earliest memories (3 years old) so I thought it was normal.

Corn started out as a small allergy for me and is now my most life threatening one. Nuts and Oils were my worst as a child. Corn oil or vegetable oil when heated is a very dangerous inhallant food allergen for me. I now carry an Epi-Pen because of it.

Be vary careful with medications. Don't trust over the counter medications. They are not required to list their ingredients. Especially don't trust Vitamins or Supplemental Minerals. I haven't found one yet that doesn't cause an allergic reaction. Since they don't list ingredients I don't know which food allergen is triggered, although in most cases it is Corn since it is a common binding agent for medications.

If your child had problems with Plastic Diapers (rash) it is probably the Corn allergy. Watch out for Toilet paper with Corn in it. Took me a while to realize that that was what was causing so much pain. I believe Eldi linked a site that shows which foods and hygene products are usually Corn-Free. I found it invaluable.

I need a full list of food allergens known and suspected. Consider your 3's and higher on the RAST to be knowns as well as any foods proven with a food challenge (you have to be off all your allergens before you can do a food challenge). Suspected are the 1's, 2's, and any foods that you just have a "feeling" there might be a problem with food allergies.

Since carbhydrates for your child are the most limited, I recommend looking into Rice and Potato flours. You will need to be very careful with the Rice, due to possible cross contamination with Corn, but if you stay away from the popular white rice (like Chinese food rice) some of them don't have as much cross contaimination. I have had decent luck with Rices from India and steaming them at home. With rice it is important to not trust a restaurant. They definitely use Corn with their rice.

Rice milk might be a safe alternative to milk for your child. I could drink it fine for the first few years and then developed an allergy to at least one of the ingredients and couldn't figure it out.

By the way, I thought I was allergic to milk, but I wasn't. It turned out I was reacting to the Corn that was used to enrich milk with Vitamins. I can safely have Organic milk, but then my milk reaction didn't show up on a Skin Prick or RAST where the other ones did.

Bananas also have a lot of carbohydrates and so do most fruits. As long as you are careful in how you clean them and try to stick with Organic non-waxed fruits you will have a better chance of avoiding Soy and Corn exposure. Since you listed some environmental tree allergies, some fruits may produce false positives when you do food challenges. Some Tree pollens are genetically similar to fruits and the body gets mixed up.

Basically there are a lot of foods your child can eat, just the learning curve is steep and it will take years to figure out. I am still learning about food allergies over 4 years later after being diagnosed.

Some people with corn allergy test positive for many, many things because they are actually reacting to some form of corn in the testing substance itself. Corn derivatives are used in almost every medication...so why wouldn't they also be used in allergy testing?

I can't imagine anyone being allergic to all of the things on your list. I would suggest you eliminate all forms of corn and anything else with a 3+ score. The others may just be false positives.

Keep a daily diary of everything that is ingested and any reactions you notice.

I notice that buckwheat is not on your list. Buckwheat is not a grain in the grass family, it is actually a seed in the rhubarb family. I practially live on buckwheat. I have found it in a cereal format where you boil it with water and serve with some fresh fruit and honey. It is actually very delicious! BTW, I know that honey appears on the corn allergen list but that is the generic honey available in bulk in the supermarket. This honey can have corn syrup added to reduce the price. I buy my fresh honey from a local apiary and I have absolutely no trouble with it.

Foods to try to avoid as best as possible:
spinach
broccoli
goat's milk (complete avoidance may be recommended due to lactose result)
milk (complete avoidance may be recommended due to lactose result)
casein (complete avoidance may be recommended due to lactose result)
chick peas
apple
gluten (complete avoidance may be recommended due to wheat result)

Safer foods based on lists:
Forget everything I said about rice milk and flour. Potato flour sounds like your only option for making bread, tortillas, or other bakery items. Use sparingly to avoid creating another food allergy.

You are going to have a real problem with Diary products with no easy safe replacements. Your child is going to be hurting for Calcium and I am not sure what to advise on that other than see a Nutritionist. However, I don't know how much one will be able to help you. Basically your list excludes the few non-milk Calcium options I am aware of. This will cause problems for growing and your childs bones in the long run. Basically a long term health issue to watch for.

On your try to avoid list, most are easy. Only exceptions are the milk and gluten, which you will probably already be avoiding due to the lactose and wheat allergies.

Avocados are a great spread for bread or can be used in Gaucamole. They are very nutritious. Although it doesn't provide Calcium, Avocados have a similar consistancy to cheese and I effectively used them as a replacement for cheese when I thought I was allergic to Milk.
http://www.avocado.org/healthy_living/nutrition.php

Since I don't see Celery on your food allergy list there are several soups sold in Whole Food stores that your child can have. Celery is one of my annoying allergies that doesn't seem like it should be a big deal but is.

Vinegar may or may not be problematic for your child due to their allergies. Apple and Corn possible contaimination.

I recommend finding cooking charts that show you foods that can replace other foods in ingredients for recipes. Then look on-line for recipes that don't include allergens or are only one or two ingredients off. See if those ingredients are replaceable. Most times they are.

It looks like all seafood is open to your child. That is very good. Squeeze of lemon and paprika on most fish is all they need to taste good. Black pepper is also good on fish.

Doesn't sound like your child can have pizza. I recommend home made burritos instead with potato flour tortillas. Burritos go great with some Gaucamole.

Thank you both so much! I am learning so much in so little time that I am thinking the world won't ever stop spinning!

We have a registered dietician visitng our home tomorrow to help us out as Keegan is only 5 and my worries is that he's not going to get the nutrition he needs. I don't know how to help him ou t with the calcium when the suppliments could have corn in them. Ahhhhhhh!

We have had him avoid most of the foods you have suggested so far. We are taking them slowly as he doesn't understand and it's taking some time to readjust our kitchen's contents. We already have a lot of the alternative flours and other alternative foods so we have a good start.

The only thing is, we don't really know what the allergins are causing. Like the banana's and eggs on the IgG test; they are off the charts but he occasionally eats them and we've never noticed problems, although I know delayed allergies can cause all kinds of issues. I also have delayed allergies to eggs: they make me sick to my stomach. As for the rest, he get's rashes and eczema now and then but what is causing that stuff?

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